The video was inspired by the song "Cry" by Godley & Creme, and featured English actor Benedict Cumberbatch alongside the band members and some family and friends.

In the review for AllMusic, editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that "By moving forward steadily, encompassing a changing present -- both in musical and personal terms -- Elbow wind up with a mature, resonant record.

"[7] In the review for The Guardian, Dave Simpson described the album as having "Songs are built around loops or percussive pianos; electric guitar motifs replace strummed acoustics and Garvey is audibly a man in love, although the results are more uplifting than gooey.

"[10] With similar levels of praise, Under the Radar magazine's Scott Dransfield called the album "epic" and that it "seem[ed] designed to mimic techno and other electronic forms via organic instruments," while concluding overall that "compositionally Elbow sounds more refreshed than they have since The Seldom Seen Kid, and hopefully Little Fictions is a signal of the beginning of a new creative phase.

"[11] Concluding their review for Pretty Much Amazing, Landon MacDonald declared that "Little Fictions is another solid entry in the Elbow catalog that is destined to be mostly ignored.